The Friday Five: Great Songs By Fictional Acts

Welcome to The Friday Five! Each week, participants are given a topic and challenged to assemble a five-song list fitting that topic. This week was a wild-card week, so I chose the topic What are your favorite songs by fictional acts?

"Teacher's Pet" - School Of Rock (From School Of Rock)

Seeing School Of Rock for the first time is one of my most vivid movie-seeing experiences. The film had just come out on DVD, and my mom had rented it from the video store. I remember not expecting much and being blown away. I loved it then, and I still do! Each role is perfectly cast, from Jack Black to Joan Cusack to every one of the kids. Most importantly, however, is the love of rock music that permeates the film. You can tell that Richard Linklater, the director, loves rock, and that love makes the film special.

One of the other things that makes School of Rock great is "Teacher's Pet," a rocker written (in the film, anyway) by Zach Mooneyham (Joey Guydos, Jr.), a student in the class Dewey Finn (Jack Black) substitute teaches for. Every great rock song "sticks it to the Man" in some way (as Finn says), and "Teacher's Pet" is no exception. The song makes the true point that rock, and music in general, isn't about getting things perfect. It's about the passion behind the song.

"Killer Tofu" - The Beets (From Doug)

When I was young, most of my favorite animated TV shows came from Nickelodeon. Doug is easily among the best of the network's '90s lineup! Doug Funnie is one of the most lifelike, relatable characters I've seen in any animated show. He's just a typical tween, complete with unrequited crushes, bully troubles, big dreams, and lots of insecurities. The rest of the cast is great, and the episodes are always well-written, but Doug himself is what makes the show special.

Like all tweens, Doug loves pop/rock music, especially The Beets. And for good reason, too, because The Beets are awesome! Just check out "Killer Tofu" if you don't believe me. They combine the punk vibe of The Ramones with the arena-rock stylings of Van Halen and the quirky lyrics of The Beatles. It's a perfect combination!

"On The Dark Side" - Eddie and the Cruisers (From Eddie and the Cruisers)

Eddie and the Cruisers revolves around a reporter (Ellen Barkin) who's investigating the strange death of Eddie Wilson (Michael Pare), former front man for the band Eddie and the Cruisers. As she investigates, she comes into contact with each of the Cruisers, who fill in a different aspect of Eddie's life. The film came and went quickly in the fall of 1983, and it's not really hard to see why: it's just a typical '80s film. It has almost no distinguishing features, nothing to set it apart in the mind of the viewer. That being said, however, it's a perfectly okay film. It's definitely worth seeing should you get the chance.

Eddie and the Cruisers's shining moment (for me, anyway) is "On The Dark Side," one of Eddie's biggest hits. The Springsteen-esque vibe doesn't fit the film's story (this definitely isn't a '60s smash song), but that's a minor nitpick. "On The Dark Side" is a delectable tune, from the opening piano notes to the beautiful sax solo to the ravaged vocals. 

"A Lot Of Livin' To Do" - Conrad Birdie (From Bye Bye Birdie)

When pop sensation Conrad Birdie is drafted into the U.S. Army, agent/songwriter Albert Peterson comes up with the perfect publicity stunt to send Birdie off. The stunt goes like this: the night before Birdie reports for duty, he'll appear on The Ed Sullivan Show, sing his newest song, and give a typical American girl a kiss for the road. The American girl, Kim McAfee, is thrilled, but Kim's boyfriend, Hugo Peabody, is less than excited. And fun ensues! That's the book for Bye Bye Birdie, one of my favorite musicals! The songs are catchy, the comedy is frothy, and the characters are likable. What more could you want?

All the songs in BBB are great, but my personal favorite is "A Lot Of Livin' To Do." The lyrics do a perfect job of depicting what it's like to be a teenager, full of energy, with a whole wide world in front of you. You feel like you can do anything, go anywhere, be something special. That's a really amazing feeling, and "A Lot Of Livin' To Do" captures it well!

"Heartland" - Dusty Chandler (From Pure Country)

I couldn't let a list like this go by without including one of my favorite movies: Pure Country! In the film, Dusty Chandler (George Strait), country music megastar, decides he's tired of all the glitz, smoke, and lights. After one particularly flashy show, he walks off his tour bus and disappears into Texas country. With that, Dusty embarks on a quest to get back to his roots, falling in love with a pretty rancher (Isabel Glasser) along the way. Meanwhile, Dusty's manager (Lesley Anne Warren) desperately searches for her star while slimeball roadie Buddy Jackson (Kyle Chandler) impersonates Dusty onstage.

There's a lot of reasons I love Pure Country: George Strait's presence; the nostalgic '90s feeling; the fact that Isabel Glasser is drop-dead-gorgeous. Mostly, though, I love the country songs and the love for the American Heartland. Like Dusty Chandler, I feel most at home in the wide open spaces, what some people might call "cowboy country." Love of that land permeates the whole movie, but it's strongest in the song "Heartland," Dusty's biggest hit. I love the sepia-toned portrait of ranch country that the lyrics paint. It's idealized, but in my heart, that's what the heartland is. 

What about you? What fictional bands/singers do you love?